The present invention generally relates to a system capable of detecting, tracking, and, possibly, engaging one or more objects of potential concern, and more particularly, but without limitation, to a system of instruments (and/or components) capable of providing a protective boundary around a military platform or other entity of interest. (An “object (or “objects”) of potential concern” will be either singly or collectively, referred to herein as either the singular or plural form of Target, Contact, and/or Threat; therefore, when any of these terms appear herein they should be considered as being synonymous.)
Today's global environment has led to the need for heightened security measures for both people and possessions including high price military platforms such as, but not limited to, U.S. Navy ships—the USS Cole (DDG-67) was bombed in Aden, Yemen, in October 2000. Because of this bombing and the terrorist attacks of Sep. 11, 2001, it was clear that improved Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection (AT/FP) capabilities were (and are) needed.
More specifically, with respect to U.S. Navy ships, ships need to be protected more than ever from a terrorist attack regardless if sitting in port, at anchorage, or while transiting restricted waterways, and this is the case whether the ship is located in, or is far from, the continental United States or its territorial waters. Moreover, it is often required that a ship's major combat systems (e.g., radar and/or sonar) must be secured (i.e., generally unavailable for use) due to a host nation's rules or regulations, or due to restrictions required by environmental rules and regulations. Currently, while these combat systems are secured, most shipboard protection on a U.S. Navy ship is provided by utilizing the following equipment and manpower: “crew-manned” weapons; personnel standing sentry duty; vision aids (i.e., binoculars); portable hand-held radios; and Rigid-Hulled Inflatable Boats (“RHIB”). [ASIDE: While the disclosure herein may be focused, in most part, on using the present invention on (or for) ships, and more specifically on U.S. Navy ships, it should be understood that the present invention can be used on, or with, other platforms/entities. Moreover, the acronym RHIB, when used hereinafter, should be considered to refer to not only Rigid-Hulled Inflatable Boats, but also to other remote platforms or other entities, whether mobile or fixed, that are possibly capable of providing at least some of the following: remote detecting; tracking; Contact engagement; and/or other sensor and/or other related functions. As non-limiting examples, these can include manned or unmanned vehicles (which may include, but are not limited to, aerial, above-surface, underwater, land-based and/or space-based vehicles) or may include, but are not limited to, aerial, above-surface, underwater, land-based, water-based and/or space-based platforms, entities and/or systems.]
There are disadvantages with the current methods of shipboard protection. For example, the ability to successfully engage a potential threat is constrained by the timeliness of the detection and warning, by the number of personnel available for sentry duties, by the equipment currently used, and by other human perception and skill limitations (including a reduced probability of hit when compared to an automated system). More specifically, the ship's personnel that are required to perform sentry duty may be required to stay alert for extended periods of time, and while walking the ship's deck(s)—many times in the middle of the night and, possibly, under conditions of extreme heat or cold. Clearly, these workplace conditions do not enhance the quality of life and may lead to human-based failures of the protection system. Furthermore, if the sentry personnel do not identify a threat in a timely manner, the response time required for a successful engagement of a potential threat may be lost. This may be exacerbated by requiring the sentry to relay the threat information to a remotely located supervisor prior to receiving authorization to engage the threat, which can cause further delays and, therefore, an increased likelihood of failure. Lastly, with respect to the use of sentries, if the ship's personnel must engage a threat with a crew-manned weapon, those personnel are at risk of injury or death including the risks associated with return fire.
Other sources of failures may be attributable to the equipment being used, or to the combination of equipment and its user's human capabilities. Typically, the best optical aid that ship's personnel have when standing sentry duty is a pair of binoculars. Some of the disadvantages of using binoculars are: limited range; limited field of view (especially when looking at one Contact while another Contact is approaching from another direction); a general dependency on fair weather; and the requirement to be hand-held, which can increase the time needed to man a weapon or which can impede the use of a hand-held radio. Likewise, communications using hand-held radios may be limited by the capability of the sentry to describe the on-going events. The sentry must paint a verbal picture of these events, which can lead to misinformation, incorrect information, or untimely information—all of which may lead to a tactical disadvantage.
Another potential disadvantage is attributable to a ship's RHIB. RHIBs are often sent out to engage (e.g., interrogate or otherwise obtain information on) potentially hostile Contacts that turn out not to be a threat to the main ship. (The term “main ship” when used herein should be taken to mean the military platform or other entity of interest on which the primary user interface (or operator console) of the present invention is installed or where “command and control” is located.) This wastes fuel, time, and/or other resources, and generally increases the need for additional maintenance and/or other services—all of which increase costs. Furthermore, engagement of a non-threat Contact may place the RHIB out of position to engage a real threat. Therefore, a need remains for a low-cost, yet robust, protection system that can provide an improved anti-terrorist and/or personnel protection capability for military platforms as well as for other entities of interest, and which is easy-to-use, and relatively simple to manufacture and install.